Efficient measurement of noisy quantum processes for error mitigation

我们的项目旨在解决量子计算中的一个主要挑战：硬件噪音。要实现量子优势并对世界经济产生重大影响，量子计算机必须能够比经典计算机更快地解决实际问题。为了抑制近期量子计算机中噪声的影响，已经开发了误差缓解技术。这些技术可以在硬件满足容错量子纠错(FTQEC)的严格要求之前实现一条通往量子优势的道路。容错量子纠错是一种更复杂的方法来控制量子计算中的错误，但需要更大的设备尺寸和更低的错误率。我们的创新方法专注于改进错误缓解方法，通过开发有效的方法来测量噪声量子过程中的不同错误概率并估计最坏情况的错误率。我们还将比较不同的噪声量子过程的表征方法，并评估它们在量子误差缓解算法中的性能。此外，我们将估计使用量子误差缓解技术运行量子电路的资源需求。我们的创新方法以Quantinuum的开源软件产品Qermit为中心，该产品能够开发和执行错误缓解的量子实验。Qermit提供了一系列错误缓解方法，并便于组合不同的方法。它使用Quantinuum的旗舰高性能量子编译器软件TKET构建，并直接集成到Quantinuum的软件生态系统中，使其可供我们的任何用户和客户使用。通过解决核心问题，我们的项目将产生一套新的Qermit功能，用于估计错误缓解所需的资源。这些功能将为用户提供有关额外测量样本和电路数量的信息，以及为其目标量子算法和硬件后端选择的误差缓解策略的性能。这一功能将直接影响我们产品的质量，提供基本的分析，以确定应用程序何时可以在固定资源预算内在可用的量子计算机上成功实施。我们的项目解决了评估错误缓解方法的实际性能和资源需求的迫切需求，以确定通过近期量子计算可以在现实世界应用程序的哪些方面实现量子优势。通过改进我们的产品Qermit，我们将为用户提供必要的分析，以确定在现有硬件上运行他们的量子算法的可行性，促进更快的上市路线，并最终推动量子计算应用的增长。

Our project aims to address a major challenge in quantum computing: hardware noise. To achieve quantum advantage and have a significant impact on the world economy, quantum computers must be able to solve practical problems faster than classical computers. Error mitigation techniques have been developed to suppress the effects of noise in near-term quantum computers. These techniques can enable a path towards quantum advantage before hardware meets the stringent requirements of fault-tolerant quantum error correction (FTQEC), which is a more sophisticated method to control errors in quantum computing but requires a larger device size and lower error rates.Our innovative approach is focused on improving error mitigation methods by developing efficient ways to measure different error probabilities in noisy quantum processes and estimate worst-case error rates. We will also compare different characterisation methods for noisy quantum processes and evaluate their performance on quantum error mitigation algorithms. Additionally, we will estimate the resource requirements for running quantum circuits using quantum error mitigation techniques.Our innovation approach is centred around Quantinuum's open-source software product Qermit, which enables the development and execution of error-mitigated quantum experiments. Qermit provides a range of error mitigation methods and facilitates combining different methods. It is built using TKET, Quantinuum's flagship high-performance quantum compiler software, and is straightforwardly integrated within Quantinuum's software ecosystem, making it usable by any of our users and clients.By solving the core problem, our project will lead to a suite of new Qermit features for estimating the resources needed for error mitigation. These features will provide users with information on the number of additional measurement samples and circuits, and the performance of a chosen error mitigation strategy for their target quantum algorithm and hardware backend. This functionality will directly impact the quality of our product, offering an essential analysis to determine when an application can be implemented successfully on available quantum computers, within a fixed resource budget.Our project addresses the pressing need to assess the practical performance and resource requirements of error mitigation methods to determine where quantum advantage for real-world applications can be achieved with near-term quantum computing. By improving our product, Qermit, we will provide users with the necessary analysis to determine the feasibility of running their quantum algorithms on available hardware, facilitating faster routes to market, and ultimately driving the growth of quantum computing applications.